Tractor attachment



Au 28, 1928. A. CORONA TRACTOR ATTACHMENT Filed Dec. 4, 1926 PNVENTOR' Her/1w? CORONH ES WITNESS BY g ATTORNEY tachment designed for. use inconnection with automobile trucks and the llke, anrobyect of omitted for clearness;

Patented Aug. 28, 1928.

UNITED ISTATESPATENT r -sis;

ARTHUR ooaonn, or BROOKLYN, NEWYORK, nssIcNoR orbikini-marnonl near:

HmsoH, F NEW YORK; N. Y.4 1 i i mnecron ntrraonmnivr. H

Application filed 4, 11326.. Seriali IIoi;

llhis invention relates to tractor attachments and DQOIBPfll'tlCHlZLI'lY to such an atthe invention being to {provide a tractor at taclnnent which canbe brought into operation when thetruck is stuck in the mud or in a hole,

and will function topropel the truck ontothe solid ground.

attachment whichmay be seeured toany ver hi cle, which is normally outbfoperationand normally elevated so asto beoutof contact with the ground, but which can be adjusted so as to lower the same intooperati-ye position and caused to operate to propel the vehicle.

A further object is to provide antattachment of the character stated, in which the traction is caused by a plurality of movable feet which engage the ground insuccession, to the movement of human feet in walking so as to propel the vehicle as far as may ,be desired, relieving the driving a very similar wheels temporarily of their function. e

With these and otherobjects'in view, the invention consists in certain novel features of a of course that durmgthe normaloperation of construction and combinations and arrangements ofparts, which w ll be, more fully hereinafter described and pointedoutin the claim;

In the accompanying drawingsa y Figure l is a plan VlGW of a truck equipped with my improved tractor attachment all superstructure suchas the body, etc., being "1 Figure 2 isa view onan enlarged Scale on which together with steering wheels 2 at thefront support the chassis 3, engine a and other elements of the truck construction;

5 represents the drive shaft operatively connecting the engine with therear axle, and 6 is a shaft extending longitudinally of the chassis, substantially parallel to the shaft 5, and operatively connected to said shaft by intermeshing gears 7 and 8.

9 represents what may be assumed to be a clutch or other means which locks the gear Wheel 8 to the 5 erefrom, and this 11 truck of standard type,

upper ends support at their lower ends ground contacting any desired length cans] is in convenient reachof thedriver softhat it is always under his control as may be necessary. y r r i y i represents a vertical movable frame which ca rries my improyed tractor mechatheir 4 upper ends have :swiv

elled connection itlrthe chassis,asindicated at 12.

and releases the same i u e e e p This frame 10 y i v cissupported by anumber (preferably four) A further object is to provide a tractor Bevel pinions 13ers secured on theiscrews ll and all of the' bevel gears 13 are inmesh' with companionlbevelgears 14: on shafts 15 so that all of the screwsare turned simultane ously andinthe same direction when the said gears are inmotion toraise andframe 10, as will be readilyunderstood;

16 represents. a shaft operated wheel i i with one is manually imparted to said gears at the will of the operator to raise and lower the frame lower the e bya hand-1f ll iand connectedbyfa bevel gear 18 of the bevel gears 13, sothat motion toyl move the tractor mechanism into and out" of operative position, it being understood thetruckthis frame 10 willbe elevated so that the tractor. mechanismisout ofcontact with thegrounch i y y The frame -10 supportsa pair of parallel crankshafts 19 andiZO, and while I have shown each of these shafts as proyidcd iwith s x crankar ns arranged in two sets disposed atan angle of120- that may employ any'numbjenofcrank arms in accordance with the number of tractorelc ea sde ileslland w c be H r f l y hereinafter describedin detail. e i The shaft 6 above referred to isfoperatively connected to the shaft 19 through the medium of bevel gearsQSand 29. e y I would call attention to the fact that the to each other it is obvious;

crank armsof shaft 19 have a advance in a position over the crank arms of shaft 20.

Links l 21 are pivotally connected at their to the crank armso-f shaft 20 and feet22, which may have and widthof base in order to give any-desired bearing on the ground. These feet 22am connectedjto thelinks 21 by pivots 23, and said pivots 23 also function y to couple the lowerends of links to said v y y co msni and s located below the chassis 3 and asf near the rear axlelas POSSlblGl.

links 21 and feet 22. The other ends of these links 24 are ivotally connected to the crank arms of sha t 19.

Sprocket wheels by a sprocket chain 27 so as to compel the shafts 19 and 20to operate at thesaine speed and move in unison. It is of course to be understood that other forms of power'trans mission may be employed between the respective to shafts which will answer the purpose. a

The operation is as followsi i Normallythe frame 10 is in its elevated position and my improved tractor mechanism 1 is out of operation. When the truck becomes stuck in the mud or in a hole, or for any other reason it is desired to employ my i1nproved tractor mechanism, theoperator stops theengine or, motor of the truck and then by manually manipulating the handwheel 17 turns the shaftl'fi and through the medium he causes the screws of the bevel gears andshafts above described 11 to turnto lower frame 10 to operative position. Y He then throws the clutch 9 to lock the gear 8 to the drive shaft of the truck motor and starts the motor. Power is then transmitted through the gears 8 "and 7 to the shaft 6, and through the arrangement of gears and sprocket chain above describedthe shafts 19 and 20are caused to X turn in the direction of the arrows indicated giveto the feet 22 an n The crank arms of shaft 20 and down movement, and the crank arms 0 shaft 19 throughthe medium of the links 24 giveto'th'e feet a in Figure 2.

somewhat rotary movement whichydueto the arrangementof l1nkage,'1s very 811111191 to the action of the human In other words, one of these feet 22 is always in contact with the ground, andas downward pressure thereon is imparted the rear end of the truck iselevated and caused to move forward and before one foot 1eaves'the ground another foot 22 comes in contact therewith and the operation is repeated'in a continuous succession of groundengagements of the 1 several feet to propelthe vehicle forwardly andat the tion to the rear endof same time give a slight shifting acthe truck to move the and 26 are connected but I have illustrated a chain,

long or as wide as possible feet in walking.

port, a pair of crank engaging portions,

same out of its predicament, and when the rear traction wheels are on solid ground the tractor attachmentis stopped and the frame 10 elevated so that the truck is ready to proceed as before. a

By reason "of an attachment of this kind, the use of a truck can be continuous without being tied up for long periods due to the had road conditions and other causes where assistance is necessary, as my improved at tachment provides a very ready means for aiding the truck in traction diflicult-ies.

While I referto this device as a truck, it is obvious that my inventionis applicable to any vehicle and might be used on cars of any type) It is also to beunderstood that I do not limit myself to theproportions of the several partsfor, as amatte r of fact the feet 22 shouldhave a bearing surface or base as within reasonable limits to give as large an extendedbearing as is oossible on the ground.

he correct motion of thefeet is had by reason of the fact that crank arms of shaft 19 are 60 in advance of the crank arms of shaft 20, and while this matter of degrees is only proportionate I believe 60 in advance is the proper proportion but do not wish to be limited specifically to this.

Various-changes and alterations might be made in the general form ofthe parts do scribed without departing from my invention and hence I do not limit myself to the precise details set forth but consider myself a't l iberty to make such changes and alterations as fairly fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claim.

- A tractor attachment, including a supshafts adaptedto turn in the same directiomlinks ivotally connected to the crank arms 0 one of said shafts, feet pivotally connected to the lower ends of" said links,having extended groundand other links connecting the crank armsof the other shaft, with their feet at the point of pivotal connection with the first-mentioned links.

ARTHUR CORONA. 

